World Bowling Coach Conference concludes

ARLINGTON, Texas – After three days of seminars and discussions featuring the top bowling coaches in the world, the inaugural World Bowling Coach Conference came to a close at the International Training and Research Center on Sunday.

The conference was held in conjunction with World Bowling (the World Tenpin Bowling Association), the world governing body for the sport. The conference drew nearly 100 coaches, including 15 of the 24 active USBC Gold coaches, and 28 countries were represented.

The ITRC staff, led by Team USA head coach Rod Ross, served as host of the educational conference.

“We invited some of the presenters more than a year ago in advance and they were excited to be a part of this,” Ross, left, said. “It turned into a very special thing. Having this many federations and 36 international coaches is just overwhelming.”

Onder Gurkan, Chairman of European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) Educational Committee, was one of the presenters at the conference. He teamed with Juha Maja, head coach of the Bowling Training Center in Olomouc, Czech Republic, and visiting coach in Finland’s Kuortane Bowling Training and Education Center, to discuss the ETBF Coaching Systems, with a focus on timing.

Gurkan said the conference was an opportunity for the coaches to network.

“All coaches are now sharing much more information,” Gurkan said. “At the end of the day, it’s good for all coaches, and, as a result, for our bowlers. That’s why I think networking is important. Whenever you have a problem or question, you can reach the person who knows about it. It improves our toolbox.”

Eric Lanuza is the Technical Delegate for the Pan American Bowling Confederation (PABCON). He agreed with Gurkan that it is important for coaches to get together to share ideas.

“There are always new things, new ways of thinking, and it is really wonderful, and I would appreciate the chance for us to do this more often,” Lanuza said. “I was a little surprised at the amount of coaches; so many coaches and so many good coaches.”

Andrew Frawley, who was appointed as national coach for Tenpin Bowling Australia last year, said the conference also illustrated differences in coaches and coaching programs throughout the world. He added he was “blown away” by the technology and training at the ITRC.

“Once I got here and realized the content of what was here, I realized if you’re not here, I really feel some people missed out,” Frawley said. “It was a huge opportunity. I think it was good to see some interaction of what’s going on in Europe and what’s going on in the USA.”

In addition to presentations by the ITRC staff, presenters during the conference included Costas Mitsingas, the first coach from outside the United States to be certified as a USBC Gold coach; Del Warren, Vice President of Kegel Training Center and a USBC Gold coach; Frank Buffa, USBC Gold coach and founder of Buffa Bowling; and Mark Buffa, a USBC Silver coach.

“I was really looking forward to this, and I have not been disappointed at all,” Donald Armstead, a USBC Silver coach from Philadelphia who works mainly with youth bowlers, said. “Though I go to a lot of different things, I still learned things here and met a lot of really good people who can help me. Everything about this has been first-rate.”

The ETBF, PABCON and Asian Bowling Federation (ABF), along with the United States Bowling Congress and Kegel, a leading company in the industry, supported the World Bowling Coach Conference.